Chapter 60: 036. Imperial Prince is Subjugating Vampires -1 (Part Two)
I snapped my fingers.
The skeletons wearing Paladin gear approached the bed and covered the eyes and mouth of the First Imperial Prince.
“W-wait, what are you tryi… Euh-euhp!”
While licking my lips again, I took out the skull of the Necromancer King from the item window – the myth-grade item that resembled a mountain goat’s skull, as if to symbolise the devil itself.
“I shall let you personally experience a miracle. When you wake up, please seek out Harman. And finish what I wanted to do. Since you crapped all over the floor in the first place, you better clean up the mess yourself, dear brother.” I grasped the chest of the First Imperial Prince. “Ah, and I need some compensation for all the hardship I’ve endured, so for now…”
Luan continued to resist.
I watched him struggle and smiled with my eyes.
“…Please die.”
I drove divinity into his body.
“Euh-euhp…!”
Crunch!
The sound of something exploding could be heard. The piece of clothing used to cover Luan’s mouth couldn’t stop the blood exploding out from there.
I felt pretty bitter about this.
This would be my very first act of murder in this world.
Having the attributes of a Necromancer in a situation like this proved to be oh-so wonderful. I covered up my bitter grin with Amon’s skull and spoke up. “And then, please revive again.”
After sucking in a deep breath, I recited the activation words for Amon’s skull.
I had never tried reviving someone before. But just like what Alice said, it shouldn’t be impossible to pull off with a massive amount of divinity alongside the attributes of a Necromancer.
It’s time to give the improbable [Revival] a go, something often referred to as god’s miracle.
**
(TL: in 3rd person POV.)
“What is the meaning of all this?!”
Archbishop Raphael loudly roared out as he stood in the corridor.
The whole imperial palace was in an uproar. Hundreds of Paladins were stuck in a messy tangle, busy fighting each other. It seemed impossible to tell apart just who was the ally and enemy at the moment, as everyone wore similar attire.
“It’s a revolt, sir!”
“A revolt?!”
A Paladin hurriedly approached the archbishop and informed the latter.
“Actually, we suspect it of being a revolt, your grace.” The Paladin took off his helm and revealed a confused expression hiding underneath. “Our opposition doesn’t seem willing to take a life.”
Archbishop Raphael observed the Paladins currently involved in the messy melee in the corridor.
Bang! Boom!
Swords were crashing into armours, but as no divinity had been used in the attacks, none of the Paladins being knocked back and passing out suffered from serious injuries.
So the remaining question was with how to differentiate their allies from the enemies.
The reason why the Paladins hadn’t resorted to their divinity to resolve this situation yet was precisely this.
“Hang on. What about his highness the First Imperial Prince?”
“The Seventh Imperial Prince invaded his highness’s quarters earlier!”
Archbishop Raphael gritted his teeth.
‘That damn mangani bastard, he has committed yet another sin!’
It was unknown just how that boy managed to scrounge up a force of this size, but for the time being, securing the safety of the First Imperial Prince took priority over all else.
Raphael raised his crosier and stepped into the battlefield.
A Paladin then suddenly stood in his way.
This meant that this particular knight was an enemy.
The unknown Paladin seemed to recognise Archbishop Raphael because he held the sword in a reverse grip so that the blade would be facing the other way. He then tried to attack the priest with the hilt.
Raphael used his crosier to deflect the incoming attack. “You fools dare…!”
He might have been a clergyman, but at the same time, he was no ordinary holy man either.
No, he was the archbishop!
He was the inheritor of the doctrine of the Holy Imperial Family’s religion. Would someone like that be soft enough to get beaten back by a mere no-name Paladin?
Raphael ably wielded his crosier and slammed it against the Paladin’s helm. The gear protecting the head crumpled and the Paladin collapsed to the ground.
“You fools. Back in my prime, I could even fight one on one against a Death Knight bare handed. Do you really think I’ll get knocked down by the likes of… Huh?!”
Raphael had to stop in the middle of his speech, his eyes bulging out from their sockets.
The helm was definitely crushed. In fact, the protective covering on the face was distorted so much that the person underneath should’ve passed out from being unable to breathe properly. Despite that, the Paladin still extended his hand out and grabbed Raphael’s ankle.
It was at this point that the archbishop sensed something strange.
He could sense some divinity coming from the downed Paladin’s body. But it was different from the other Paladins who utilised either the divine energy inside their bodies or the outside atmosphere. It was as if this knight’s body itself was made out of divinity.
Feeling suspicious, Raphael bent down, reached out with his hands, and took off the helm. And then, he had to question his own eyes.
“What… is the meaning of this?!”
It was a skeleton made out of divinity, its jaw noisily clattering away while holding onto Raphael’s ankle to buy more time.
“Your grace, sir! It’s too dangerous! Allow us to escort…!”
When some other Paladins approached him, Raphael hurriedly put the helm back on the skeleton.
‘T-the walking dead, in the Theocratic Empire’s capital…?! Not only that, inside the imperial palace no less?’
Raphael flinched nastily at this realisation and hurriedly shifted his gaze over to the corridor before him. Currently, hundreds of Paladins were still involved in a messy tangle in the space between the archbishop and the First Imperial Prince’s quarters at the end of the corridor.
Could it be that half of these men were actually undead?
Not only that, these skeletons were permeating with divinity, too.
Existences that ignored the world’s laws, and an event that Raphael’s knowledge on magic said that it’d be utterly impossible, were happening right before his eyes.
‘Just what on earth is happening in the imperial palace…?!?!’
As he was now facing an event out of his common sense, naturally ‘fear’ began rushing in.
Without a doubt, some of the living Paladins involved in the messy melee right now must’ve cottoned onto this fact as well.
They had to be stopped.
If the truth gets out, then never mind the Theocratic Empire, but the entirety of the continent would get swept up in an unprecedented chaos!
Raphael cried out, “C-cut off this whole area, now!”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Stop any and all Paladins from leaving this corridor at once! Make sure that no one, and I do mean not even one soul, gets out of here!”
The archbishop then stared at the room the First Imperial Prince was trapped in.
There were two things Raphael had to do right now. One, stop the potential rumours about these undead from leaking out of here.
And the second, rescue the First Imperial Prince Luan.
‘And also, capture the one who summoned these creatures!’
If there were walking dead present, then that meant a Necromancer was nearby. Could it be that the Seventh Imperial Prince dared to join hands with a Necromancer?!
“H-his highness Luan is in danger! Make a path for me no matter what!” Raphael roared out, and while raising his crosier in the air, he closed his eyes and started praying. “Oh, the Goddess of life itself, Gaia!”
His eyes shot open right then.
“Please grant us your miracle through your mercy and love, and protect all of your faithful flock!”
His eyes quickly picked out the undead created out of divinity.
“I beg of you to arrest and confine the vile heretics so that they may pay for their sins!”
His crosier came down, hard.
Strands of pure light exploded out and began tying up all the undead in the corridor. However, the living Paladins still fighting each other didn’t seem to have figured out who were their allies and enemies yet.
“Everyone, follow after me! We must rescue his highness, the First Imperial Prince!”
The fighting Paladins flinched and quickly shifted their gazes.
Raphael hurriedly walked among them.
The knights stopped fighting and began following right after him.
Now wasn’t the time to worry about these undead. Right now, the First Imperial Prince Luan was…!
The undead standing before the door were now blocking the archbishop’s path.
Raphael’s eyes caught sight of Alice currently pinned down on the ground by the undead, and then at the First Imperial Prince Luan’s healers currently isolated from the rest on the side of the corridor.
“His highness the Seventh is inside the room, your grace! Hurry…!”
Just before Raphael could take a swing with his crosier…
-Kki-rriik?
All of the undead suddenly ceased to exist.
They turned into particles of light and vanished; only the empty armours fell and clanged on the hard, cold floor.
At the same time, Raphael and the Paladins all froze up on the spot.
Their hardened faces gradually turned towards the door, towards the room where the First Imperial Prince Luan was staying.
Suddenly, the door was flung open wide. And from the doorway, a truly incredible amount of divinity began madly gushing out.
The waves of divinity were so mighty that the whole of the imperial palace was shaking around!
Raphael stabbed the crosier down on the ground to withstand the waves. But Alice and other Paladins ended up planting their butts hard on the floor.
Their disbelieving gazes were directed towards the doorway, but the light was too blinding and they had to close their eyes in the end.
Chills ran down their spines. They started wondering if a god had descended here or some such.
Raphael gulped back his dry saliva. His whole body was frozen stiff and he couldn’t move.
Eventually, the enormous waves of divinity died down. The blinding light slowly weakened too.
The flung-open door hung precariously on its hinges, creaked noisily, before drifting halfway shut again.
Raphael and the Paladins stood there frozen in a pure daze for a while, having forgotten their initial purpose.
“G-grandfather.”
The archbishop finally regained his wits at Alice’s urging.
He reached out and slowly opened the creaking door.
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